Partnership Initiatives

Our Chair sits on The Mayor of London’s Homes for Londoners Board. In addition our BMELL collaboration group have quarterly meetings with Deputy Mayor of London for Housing – Tom Copley and, Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice – Debbie Weekes-Bernard exploring how BMELL and the GLA can effectively partner to enable London to become a more inclusive and equitable place to live and work. GLA has launched a number of EDI stipulations that are expected of Investment Partners (Housing Organisations received Government funding to develop new affordable units for Londoners); BMELL is working with Tom Copley by developing accountable mechanisms to ensure that this thinking does not become a tokenistic policy directive but effects real change in terms impact in delivery. With Debbie Weekes-Bernard BMELL are seeking to partner with the GLA to play a significant role in its COVID recovery plans for London.

BMELL collaboration partners are establishing development management systems to enable collaboration members to apply for direct funding from the GLA from the 21-26 Affordable Homes Programme.

BMELL’s Development Forum is a sub-group of the Collaboration that specifically seeks at enhancing members development output. Bringing together each members development experience and learning, has seen the group leverage the shared knowledge and more cost effectiveness in the use of consultants in the space.

As well as the collaborations chair participating on the Mayor of London’s Homes for Londoners board, the collaboration has quarterly roundtable meetings with the Deputy Mayor of London for Housing, Tom Copley.  BME London Landord’s are the founder (BMEL 9) members of Build London Partnership after agreeing an initial programme of 200 homes with L&Q from secured funding from the 2016-2021 Affordable Housing Programme.

BMELL having successfully delivered on the AHP 2016-2021, the group is now looking towards being fit for purpose as a collaboration of smaller RSL’s developing the capacity to deliver new homes ongoing in the longer term. With the new GLA directives for Investment Partners to commit to a step change of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion stipulations, the Development Forum sub-group are utilising the learning from working within the Build London Partnership experience to explore the new opportunities that the new AHP 2022-2026 presents.

Aziz Rahim of NLM, a BMELL member sits as co-chair on the Build London Partnership steering group which has now 45 additional housing organisations partnering with L&Q exploring how the partnership can support the smaller registered social housing providers to build capacity to deliver the new homes that London will need moving forward.

BMELL are joining the Communities That Work, the national body for social landlords aiming to transform lives for good by supporting people into rewarding, sustainable employment. BMELL will partner CTW in developing the UK Shared Prosperity Fund Housing Network making the call for housing to be integral to the Govt’s levelling up agenda.

To date BMELL members have delivered 90% of all units completed within the partnership. The Build London Partnership started initially as a partnership between L&Q and BME London Landlords. The Build London Partnership’s membership now extends to 45 Housing Organisations from BMELL initial 9 members. The recently developed steering group, is co-chaired by Aziz Rahim of NLM (BMELL member)

Working closely with Spitalfields Housing Association another member within the BME London Landlords group, the Bangladeshi COVID Advice project will produce a COVID Advice video in Bengali, provide literature in Bengali, with the two workers employed networking with NHS provision and Hackney and Tower Hamlets local authority to target the Bangladeshi community beyond just Bangla HA and Spitalfields HA residents.

Bashir Uddin Chief Exec Bangla HA made a call to action to his fellow BMELL members the need for an urgent response, to the number of deaths in the Bangladeshi community during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the summer lockdown. Anticipating the second wave Bashir sought support from the group, summarising that many organisations in the collaborative group had Bangladeshi tenants and something urgently needed to be done because lives were at stake. The group gave full support sponsoring Bangla’s application to the National Lottery recovery fund, to provide targeted advice to the at-risk community on how to protect itself from the risk.

Since Bashir’s call for action was mobilised amongst the BMELL group, BME London Landlords have been exploring further work on how to get targeted messages to other BME communities at risk and how the group can bring its influence to become more of a community enabler.

This project has successful reached the second round of funding the Reaching Communities Fund application process. The project application is focused on extended the work of BCAP, to provide Health and Wellbeing, Finance and Debt Management Support along with Employment and Skills Training across several boroughs in East London targeting the Bangladeshi Community using key elements of the successful project model.

The Greater London Authority (GLA) decided, in consultation with London boroughs councils and civil society organisations, to run a digital London Voter Registration Week (LVRW) 2020 which will take place between 14 and 20 September 2020 to support the efforts of borough electoral services running the annual voter registration canvass and to coincide with the start of the academic year.

LVRW 2020 aims to raise awareness and increase the voter registration rates, and thus the voice, of already under-registered and under-represented Londoners, namely BAME and migrant Londoners, young people (16 – 24-year olds) and private renters, the very groups who have been further disproportionally negatively impacted by Covid – 19.

BMELL members partnered with LVRW 2020 and LVRW 2021 to raise awareness amongst its tenants and residents.

The Greater London Authority (GLA) decided, in consultation with London boroughs councils and civil society organisations, to run a digital London Voter Registration Week (LVRW) 2020 which will take place between 14 and 20 September 2020 to support the efforts of borough electoral services running the annual voter registration canvass and to coincide with the start of the academic year.

LVRW 2020 aims to raise awareness and increase the voter registration rates, and thus the voice, of already under-registered and under-represented Londoners, namely BAME and migrant Londoners, young people (16 – 24-year olds) and private renters, the very groups who have been further disproportionally negatively impacted by Covid – 19.

BMELL members partnered with LVRW 2020 and LVRW 2021 to raise awareness amongst its tenants and residents.

The Social Housing Anti-Racism Pledge, developed by BME London Landlords, BME National, and The Housing Diversity Network, calls on all registered social landlords to adopt an Anti-Racist stance by adopting a clear policy that states their organisation is Anti-Racist.

By developing an anti-racist strategy/policy directive; the social housing sector can establish a clear /message of intent ensuring zero-tolerance towards any form of racism, and set the standard by which their organisations operate.

The programme is run in partnership with Arhag, Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing and BME London Landlords and is delivered by Olmec. It is open to anyone who needs a helping hand to find a new or a better job.

• Recognised NCFE Entry Level 3 qualification in employability
• Volunteering opportunities which can often lead on to paid work
• Work placements to gain hands-on experience and learn new skills
• Help to write a CV
• Top tips and interview skills
• Training opportunities
• Support with job searches including helping to write your applications.

BMELL members played their part in delivering within the Kickstart Housing Network consortium including by creating 18 new job placements for unemployed young people through the government’s Kickstart Scheme. 9 of the BMELL collaboration members were part of the 44 housing associations that created more than 800 job placements in the government’s kickstart scheme.